Just recently, Pokémon Sword & Shield has had tons of additions and improvements with its newly released Isle of Armor DLC. The game has grown to include several returning Pokémon, powerful moves, new characters, and a massive set of territories to explore to help make the game bigger than ever.
This expansion is massive, and it’s no surprise that there are some things that most players might not experience or know about in their playthrough. There are tons of quieter additions that Pokémon fans should take advantage of, and these are just a few of the ones players might have missed or overlooked.
10 You Can Transfer Pokémon In Ranked Battles
There are a few unpopular hiccups that came with the shrunken Pokédex of Pokémon Sword & Shield. One of the things that frustrated many players was how Pokémon transferred through Pokémon Home weren’t usable in online Ranked Battles, meaning players’ old competitive partners were mostly useless.
Thankfully this is no longer the case, as a new NPC in the lobby of the Battle Tower will reset the player’s Pokémon and delete all of its moves to make it legal in Ranked Battles. It’s frustrating to lose its TM and Egg Moves, but it’s great to have a fix for this annoying problem with transferring.
9 You Can Buy Cheaper Vitamins in the Master Dojo
As players make their way through the campaign in the Isle of Armor, they’ll eventually be approached by Honey in the Master Dojo asking for Watts to upgrade the building. Many of the early rewards seem quite worthless, like a salon and a PC, but the later upgrades are worth investing in.
The key upgrades involve the vending machine, which eventually can let players buy stat-raising vitamins like Calcium and HP Up in bulk for low costs. This makes an extremely easy way to train Pokémon’s stats fast. This is a good and productive way to burn lots of Watts.
8 The Convenient Digging Pa
Speaking of Watts, the normal ways to get them fast can be somewhat frustrating. With only 2000 when interacting with full Max Raid Dens, it can be a huge grind to get this extremely vital currency for TM and TR moves, as well as the massive costs for upgrading the Master Dojo. The Digging Pa is the perfect and fastest solution for this conundrum.
This NPC uses the new Armorite Ore item that players get from Max Raid Battles to mine upwards of 20,000 Watts or more. If players don’t need these items for the move tutors, though, this is still a fantastic way to get a lot of Watts extremely fast.
7 The Cram-O-Matic Lets You Upgrade Treasures
Inside the Master Dojo is a robotic Cramorant called the Cram-O-Matic, a device that lets trainers combine four items to make a new one. Despite looking like scrap, this machine is extremely complex, and with its obscene number of recipes it can be easy to think this is mostly useless.
The key thing that can be done is upgrade treasures. By using three identical items in the first, third, and fourth Cram-O-Matic slots with any item in the second slot, players can combine items like Stardust into a more valuable Star Piece. The same goes for Bottle Caps, as combining three will make a Golden Bottle Cap to get the most out of Hyper Training. The Cram-o-Matic is confusing, but this feature of it is helpful and much more reliable.
6 Complete the Isle of Armor Pokédex for a Mark Charm
For those that don’t know what marks are, Pokémon Sword & Shield has a new feature that lets players equip their Pokémon’s ribbons to give them nicknames when they come out. Additionally, Pokémon all have random chances of getting unique ribbons with new titles to put in front of a player’s Pokémon when they’re called into battle.
Much like how players can get a valuable Shiny Charm through completing the Pokémon Sword & Shield Pokédex, there’s something to get if they catch everything on the new island. This would be the Mark Charm, a key item that increases the odds of finding marks on Pokémon. This feature is rare and lesser-known, and this charm makes it far more possible to experience this rarity.
5 Brand New Bikes
It’s important not to miss the female miner near the Master Dojo on the way to the Soothing Wetland. This NPC doesn’t seem special or unique, but this allows players to get the new Glistening Black or Sparkling White bike, which each come with a new biking outfit and can be switched between for no cost.
These don’t have any gameplay differences, but with the new particle effects it’s a refreshingly colorful appearance, and it’s a nice change in pace from the green and red Rotom Bike. Also, if players go to Watt Traders in the original Wild Area, they can customize the bike’s new outfit based on their first Pokémon’s types.
4 Get a Free Porygon
The main story of Isle of Armor takes a bit of time to complete, but there are many other benefits to finishing it besides getting a powerful new Urshifu. One of these is the computer Pokémon Porygon, who exists in the Isle of Armor but isn’t anywhere in the wild areas.
Once the DLC’s story is completed, players can go into the Master Dojo and find it sitting beside the Cram-O-Matic. They’ll receive it as a gift if trainers talk to it, filling their Pokédex and giving a rare Pokémon with two very powerful evolutions. Their respective items can be found throughout the Isle of Armor.
3 The Restricted Sparring Mode
Many Pokémon fans sorely miss the Battle Frontier, a series of unique battle competitions with special rules. Players still haven’t received something as large, but it comes close with Restricted Sparring, a unique battle mode that can eventually give trainers access from a student in the Master Dojo.
Restricted Sparring makes players use three Pokémon of the same type, with only two opportunities to heal between each battle. This mode is a unique challenge, but most importantly is that winning five fights in a row will give a total of 50 BP, making this a great way to grind for Battle Items.
2 The Master Dojo Battle Background
While this feature of online battles is somewhat unclear, an online icon and League Card background give a chance of letting trainers battle in a stadium reminiscent of that town’s gym or, in one background’s case, the roof of the Battle Tower.
Isle of Armor continues this feature, and it is indeed possible to do online battles in the gorgeous training grounds in the back of the Master Dojo. If players want a change of pace, they’ll just need to equip a new icon or use one of the backgrounds and they’ll have a chance of showing up there in an online battle.
1 Trade Digletts for Alolan Pokémon
Throughout the Isle of Armor is an obscene amount of collectibles, but none of them are as wonderfully silly as the Alolan Digletts hiding all over the island. There are more than 150 of them poking out of the ground, and it’s somewhat unmentioned what the reward is for hunting them down.
The reward is worth it, though, and players don’t need to collect them all to get some. Going back to the hiker after every few Digletts will give nearly every Alolan regional form, giving trainers many more unique teammates to train. As an additional prize, enough Digletts will even give an Alolan Starter with the same type as the player’s Pokémon Sword & Shield starter.
NEXT: Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Isle Of Armor – Every Sinnoh Pokémon That Has Been Brought Back
